Sprawl-Mart

On the Simpsons tonight, Homer got a job as a greeter at "Sprawl-Mart," which despite the disclaimer that they weren't mocking Wal-Mart, mocked Wal-Mart. Low wages, upaid overtime, sexism--the works. At one point, they showed the storefront with a big sign saying "Don't watch 60 Minutes this week."

And Wal-Mart richly deserves to be mocked. The latest outrage comes from southern Maryland, where the Beast of Bentonville is trying to beat a local anti-big-box ordinance by building "two" Wal-Marts side by side:

In what company officials are calling one of the first arrangements of its kind in the country, Wal-Mart plans to build a 74,998-square-foot store cheek by jowl with a 22,689-square-foot garden center. The two Wal-Marts -- each with its own entrance, utilities, bathrooms and cash registers -- would have a combined area 30 percent larger than the 75,000-square-foot limit for a single store in Dunkirk.

The tactic is the latest example of Wal-Mart's increasingly creative responses to the scores of jurisdictions, including Prince William and Montgomery counties, that have passed regulations limiting the size and location of big-box stores.

They're destroying America one town at a time, and if they get away with this latest outrage it will be a clear indication that they've killed democracy as well.